The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-02-12
HENRY AND DONELSON.

klenIy ana IblltiSbn WtTo important lou
Celebrate stations Henry was capture-i Feb
., 1862 rising young brigadirr general
named Ulysses \. Grant, was ut the head of
Che force that took it, The victory called for
che first time the attention of the country to
this officer The victory at Fort Henry. too,
was, strictly speaking, the beginning Of the
turning Of the tide in favor Of tho north. A
gloom like the fog of a winters day had been
Oh the country till then. Men in the north
were signing for II hero--a man who should
Ue strong enough TO take the head of affairs
and turn heart sickening failure into victory
The hero was developing, though they
knew il not. He who was TO lift tho cloud
was The silent man that, even in the midst Of
the victory of Fort Donelson, was too busy
60 write "A word
A notable point is the shor'ness OF Grants
dispatches at all times. A few messages, Of
not many lines, to his su eror officer tell the
story OF both Henry and DOnelson Gen.
Haleck, then at st. Louis was in command
OF the department of the Missouri Grant
dispatched Halleck, Feb 8, that Fort Henry
had fallen He added these words:
Il shall take and destroy Fort Donelson on
the sth and return TO Fort Henry
But be had undertaken n larger contract
than even he could fill in the time he pro
posed. The freshets and oyert'ows, which al
ways work such mischief in the south and
west prevented, for ono thing. The roads
leading TO Donelson We're SEA Of mud BY
the backwater OF creeks on each side OF the
fort there was a sea of water two miles in
land from the fort
The Cumberland runs north at the point
sala,Tai fnr Fort lpnaIgnu About . ,,,ila
south Of the fort, up the river, is the little
town Of Dover This hamlet was The head
quarters Of the Confederate general. Gideon
j Pillow, during the siege 1t was in Dover
that the last Confederate council # war be
tween Gems. Floyd, Pillow, Buckuer. Cob y
j Forrest and others took place previous %
the surrender Of the fort 10 Grant Below
Fort Doncl,pn, on the north, firkman's
creek cmpticd into the Cumberland 1t wa
OycrilOwcd for miles, the water up TO
hor,s breast Grant could not attack the
fort from that side On the other hand.
however, in case the Confedcrntr-, being hard
pressed. wished t. make "a sally uut from the
fort and escape by the Fort Henry road as,
in fact, they did wish to do, TIN, overlooked
Crrrh would prevent them. So, on the whole,
the back water Of llIckman- creek wa, an adj
vantage 10 both bcsicger and br-irGed Above
Fort BUncl~Du, and between that and Dover
was another stream of water, Indian creek
also overlooked
Mud There was never anything like it,
IL was half leg deep ~ specially mentioned
in Confederate official dispatches. Grant sol
dicrs fairly waded in mud up to their eyes"
when they marched from Fort Henry To- be-
siege Dover and Donelson 1t flew from the
horses hOo.s like rain and peppercd man aud
beast when the cavalry spashcd hither and
thither, in the vain fancy that they were
trotting 1t rolled from the gun carriage
wheels and fell in huge masses AT every turn
hIe artillery made.
1t must be remembered that It was Grant,
trigader general, who haa urG~t the reduc-
s,on Of Forts Henry and Don"l-on The Oh
Scct 10 be gained 10y it was the clearing Of the
Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. and the
occupation of Tennessee and its lines of rail
way Grant was at Cairo aud repeatedly
urged IIaleck TO let him visit st. Louis.
Leave was at length given Grant visited
his superior and began to unfold his plan for
the capture of the two forts. But lialleck
sienced him at once and Snubbed him
sharply.
Judge Force, in his book. says that Grant
returned TO Cairo believing his commander
thought him guilty of proposing a military
blunder.' And yet he persisted, importun-
ing again AMI again. Flag Officer Andrew
d Foote Of the Mississippi squadron, urged
Ghe slme, and begged Haleck's permission to
bet HIM and Grant move on Henry and Dom
elson. 1t was at length given. and Feb 9
Foots All Grant, infantry and cavalry forces
anit.i. started up the Tennessee TO Fort
Henly, With 1900 men and seven gun
a<Ats
Fort Henry fell on the tth The Sunday
sftss; Commander Foots took his place in tia
pulpit Of The Presbyterian church at Cairo
sd preached an eloquent sermon on the text